Across the Line of Time
by Saturday's Daughter
Summary: It's back! Written by Matchin' Laces and Written Sparks. Seven girls from the future switch bodies with newsies. Is there some lesson to be learned from all this?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Switched

Disclaimer: We own our characters. Disney owns the Newsies.

Aqua's POV

I stormed into my room, slamming the door behind me. I was only lucky that my mom had just left the house and hadn't heard that. Turning to my c.d. player, I pushed play and listened as Clay Aiken's voice blasted out of the speakers. I started to sing along, but quickly gave up. I was too angry to sing right now. I sat on my bed and began to pound on the pillow. It helped me release anger.

"Grow up," I said to myself sarcastically, "In case you haven't noticed, I'm 16. I'm practically grown up already." No you aren't, a voice in the back of my head said, but I ignored it.

"I wish you were more like your brother," I mocked, "Sorry, that's not possible. I'm not 'perfect' like him. Why would I would want to be like him?" I resisted the urge to cry. If it was one thing I hated doing, it was crying. I had to work on controlling that emotion, "He doesn't have it that hard."

My brother was smarter than any normal nineteen-year-old. He excelled in math, science, history, almost everything he did. He was on a lot of sports teams this year, just like last year. He always acted so mature around everyone. It drove me crazy.

Sure, I did well in some subjects, especially English and theatre. In fact, theatre was the only thing my brother couldn't do. I was always good in school and made 'A's and 'B's. Sometimes it just didn't seem to be good enough though. What was wrong with me? I wasn't always the nicest person, but it was only when I got frustrated that this happened…and every time, I got the same speech. Well, I was getting tired of it.

I turned my computer on and brought up my writing program. Writing usually helped to calm my nerves, especially when I wrote about my favorite subject, Newsies. I wrote a little more of my story and then turned the program off. I looked at the picture of the Newsies on my screen. The one where they're standing in front of the sign that said 'Freeman & Ryer, Fancy Good, 421.'

"I bet they didn't have it this bad," I whispered to myself, "I wish I could have had the life they had. Maybe then, I'd stand a chance at being appreciated. That would be perfect." I stayed up and watched 'Newsies', wanting just to have what they had, even if just for a little while. I imagined myself with them, proudly carrying the banner with people I could truly call friends. That was exactly what I wanted.

Afterward, I went to bed, since it was so late. I would have called Comedy up, but didn't feel like bothering him with my problems. I would call him up later, maybe tomorrow, which was Friday. I might see him at school however.

That night I had a hard time falling asleep. When I did, I dreamed of the easy life, or what I thought was the easy life. I never even noticed that these dreams slowly drifted away from me and were beginning to feel more realistic…or that my surroundings had suddenly changed.

Emi's POV

"Very funny," I groaned, trying to walk past the group of girls taking up the entire hallway at school. "I'm going to be late for history."

"Shut up Emilia," one of the girls snapped. "We're talking here."

"And I'm walking here," I shouted back. I pushed around them and continued on my way. I knew they hated me but why did they have to prove it day after day?

Flopping down on my bed that day after school I cried. I hadn't cried in a while, it's too girly, but I was so frustrated. "Why does everyone hate me?" I rolled over onto my stomach and sighed. My light blonde hair fell into my eyes and I giggled, this week it was streaked a deep green. "Jealousy, that's why they hate me." I laughed again, knowing this wasn't the case.

"Emi!" Came a shout from downstairs. My mother. "What's wrong with you. I just got a call from your school and you're failing math, again. Why can't you be more like the other girls at school?" I sighed loudly but chose not to reply. I didn't want to be like those girls. I would die if I were like those girls. Rolling back over I grabbed the television remote and turned on a movie, Newsies. My feel good movie. I smiled as Race's voice filled my room. What I wished was to be like these boys. Their life was so much easier. Maybe a fight or two but they didn't have to deal with school or parents. And Blink was so cute.

I must have fallen asleep with the movie on, I don't remember getting as far as King of New York. Too bad, I love that song. I dreamed that night, about selling papes and living with the boys. About the Delancy's and even about the newsies, but I didn't see Blink.


	2. Waking Up Girls?

Waking Up Girls?

Blink's POV

I was having this wonderful dream about being able to see, outta both eyes, when I was startled right outta my bed by this strange noise. It was like a bee, a giant bee buzzing around inside my head. Laying on the floor for a few minutes with my eyes closed I realized that the floor was a little bit softer than normal, and that it was quite a bit warmer too.

"I can see!" I cried when I finally opened my eyes. "I'm dreamin', I swear I'm dreamin'." I stood up and looked around me and let out a scream. This is not the lodging house. "Where the heck am I?" I wondered and looked around a little more. The room was black and covered with pictures of people that I didn't recognize. And the softness of the floor was caused by this really thick and fluffy white rug. Even with the black walls and the warmth and the pillows, there were so many pillows, the strangest thing was that I could see outta both eyes. I reached up to touch my face and jumped back, my face didn't even feel the same. Come to think of it, I don't feel the same at all. I looked down and saw that I was wearing tiny shorts and that my legs...were not my legs at all. "What's going on?"

"Emi, you're going to be late for school," a voice called from downstairs. I stumbled over a painting on the floor and glanced in the mirror on the wall.

"Oh my..." I almost screamed out loud. A girl was staring back at me. A girl with shoulder length blonde hair and green eyes, two of them. "This isn't me," I said, stunned. "Where am I, who am I?"

Just then, "Emilia Spark, get down here now!" I'm Emilia, whoever that is. And school, the voice had said school. I, or Emilia, goes to school. Just like Davey. I've always wanted to go to school. But not like this, I was sticking out everywhere. I looked around the strange room and found a pair of slacks that were blue and stiff and heavy, but no regular slacks like I'm used to. I had to put on the heavy slacks and a white shirt with no sleeves at all. I looked in the mirror once again and that girl, that pretty girl, was still looking back at me.

"Who are you?" I asked out loud, half expecting the girl to answer. "Am I you now?" I felt myself nodding. It was strange but I seemed to understand what was going on.

Crutchy's POV

When I woke up, I immediately noticed that something felt different. The air was usually hot and stuffy in the morning, since the lodging house didn't have an air conditioner. When it was cold, it was because of the biting wind outside. Instead of the stifling heat though, I felt a cool breeze around the room. It actually felt…comfortable.

I sat up and felt around for my crutch. When I didn't feel it anywhere, I fully expected to hear laughter coming from somewhere in the room. I didn't like being the end of a joke, but I know that they didn't mean it. Besides, it could have just fallen to the floor during the night. It happened sometimes.

I reached over the side of the bed and searched the floor…nothing. I now knew that I would have to stand up to search for it. I threw the covers off, barely noticing that they seemed heavier than usual. Slowly, my feet touched the floor. I stood up, fully expecting to collapse at any second because of my crutch's absence. I was surprised when this did not happen.

The pain that usually shot through my leg when putting weight on it was gone. I could feel the ground beneath my feet, the cool feeling gradually moving up my once useless leg. That feeling had been foreign to me for so long, I had forgotten what it felt like. Still, I had to make sure that it wasn't a dream.

I took a hesitant step forward, closing my eyes as if the ground would rush up at me at any second. I stumbled a bit, but I did take that step forward. Eventually, I took another. I couldn't help but feel a little strange without my crutch. I had grown so accustomed to the wood under my arm that I almost didn't feel whole without it. It was different, but I don't remember feeling so happy in my life.

When I caught sight of a reflection, I stopped in my tracks. Turning slightly, I was greeted by an unfamiliar face…and it was a girl! She was lightly tanned and had dirty blonde hair with lighter blonde highlights and hazel eyes. My hopes were almost immediately crushed when I saw this. This was the reason that I could walk. My spirits brightened as I thought of it however. Whoever this was, they were making a dream come true.

Skittery's POV

The next morning, I was awakened by the sun's light hitting my face. I groaned and rolled to face the other direction. Was it morning already? It seemed like only seconds ago, I had gone to sleep. Nighttime was way too short and the day seemed too long.

Another morning meant another day of selling papes in either the sweltering heat or in freezing cold and I didn't feel like selling in either. I waited to hear the yelling of Kloppman's voice and was surprised when I heard only silence. Maybe, for once, they had forgotten me. Maybe now I could get some peace.

I suddenly noticed how hot it had gotten in the room and kicked off the covers. After a few more moments of pure silence, I turned around, wondering what was going on. Even after everyone left, there was usually something making noise. I liked the quiet, don't get me wrong, but something didn't feel right.

Stepping off the bed, I didn't care if I fell to the floor from the top bunk. It would be just one more thing to complain about. It's not like it was different than every other day of my life. I immediately felt ground though. I sighed when I saw no one else there. The room looked so different, I wondered what was going on but only for a moment. The papes were probably sold out already for that morning. I would have to wait for the evening edition and sell out in the cold. That was just great.

I stood and made my way around the room. I stopped briefly at a mirror, preparing to only attempt to fix my continuous bad hair year, it sticking up at odd angles. What greeted me though wasn't what I expected. I saw a girl staring back at me, the same old bored expression on her face.

"What did I do this time," I mumbled to myself, not even flinching at seeing the girl's mouth move in synch to mine. She was really thin and had long wavy dark blonde hair. Her eyes were two different colors, one blue and the other brown.

There was a knock on the door, "Linsi, time to get up and ready for school." School? Yeah, another great way to start the day. Now I actually had to learn something, not that I would pay any attention. I didn't want to learn anything. I just wanted to go right back to bed and pass the time slowly.

Unenthusiastically, I glanced around the room, spotting some odd looking clothes in a closet. I stepped over and just randomly picked out a pair of pants and a shirt. I changed slowly, hoping that it would delay having to do anything. I grabbed a hat that reminded me of one that I had back at the lodging house. It was something that would hide my face and that's all I asked for. The only shoes I could find were tall, but I put them on reluctantly.

I took a single step and fell to the floor with a loud thump. I glanced down at the source of the fall, the shoes, and glared at them, even though I knew that it would do nothing. Time to start another day…as a girl. This was just _perfect_.


	3. Shakin' Things Up

Disclaimer: Disney owns newsies. All other characters belong to their respected owners.

Shakin' Things Up

Linsi's POV

When I woke up, the first thing I noticed was the sun shining through the window. I immediately sat up and started singing. It was just one of those days, "The sun'll come out tomorrow! Bet your bottom dollar that tomorrow, there'll be sun…" I bounced up and down on the bed in excitement.

That's when I noticed the group of guys turned to stare at me in confusion and disbelief. A few sent me wary glances, slowly taking steps away from me, "Good morning!" I said cheerfully. Some of the guys muttered it back without looking up, as if scared to make eye contact.

"Skittery," Jack asked, "Are you feeling all right?" He looked almost reluctant to ask. I jumped down to the floor and danced over to him.

"I feel great," I told Jack as I landed directly in front of him. He seemed startled by my appearance, "Look, the sun is shining, birds are singing. What could go wrong?"

"Since when did you become a morning person," Race asked, "What happened to 'glum and dumb'?"

"What are you talking about," I questioned, "I love mornings. Who couldn't?" I started to dance a little, "Tomorrow! Tomorrow! I love ya tomorrow…" I took a dramatic bow as I finished the last note. Everyone stared at me in shock for a second, as if surprised that I just did that.

Their attention was drawn away though when a knock came from the door. Jack went to answer it. He greeted the person on the other side, "Hey guys, look who's here."

Davey and Les entered the room. Davey spoke up first, "Hi guys. We thought that we'd come by for a visit. How's everything going?"

"How long has it been," Specs asked, "About a month?" Davey didn't even have a chance to answer.

"Davey," I called, running over to him. I grabbed him in a hug and picked him up, "How are you doing?" Several of the boys started laughing.

"H-hi Skittery," David said, sounding slightly uncomfortable, "I'm doing…okay, I guess. How about you?"

"Great," I exclaimed, "Isn't today a wonderful day?"

"Uh, yeah," he answered, "Can you…uh… put me down now?" I reluctantly did as he asked.

"You're no fun Davey," I said, "Wanna sell with me today?"

"No, no," he said, backing away slightly, "That's all right."

"Don't you like me," I asked him, "Whatever I did, I'm sorry. Just tell me what it is and I'll change it, I promise."

"Nothing's wrong with you," he said nervously, "I was just going to sell with Jack today. Sorry."

"Okay," I said.

"What's wrong with Skittery," he asked Jack.

"I don't know," Jack answered, "but he's acting really strange." They glanced over, but I had already returned to my singing.

Aqua's POV

I woke to the sound of yelling. Thinking that it was just my alarm clock, I decided to ignore it. I didn't feel like going to school, but since I had to go, I might as well get a few extra minutes of sleep. It wasn't fair that I got up the earliest every morning. Besides that, I was thinking about Mush. That was one of few things that put me in a good mood.

"Go away," I muttered into my pillow, knowing that it wouldn't do anything. I looked up when I didn't get a response. Then I heard the singing. Why is a guy singing 'Tomorrow'? Man, I hate that song. Finally, I looked around the room.

That's when I saw the bunk beds lining the walls and boys everywhere. And they were all newsies; I recognized them from the movie. I blinked slowly, thinking that it was all a dream. But when the same scene greeted me once I opened them again, I knew it wasn't. This was real!

I jumped down from the bunk and ran for the washroom, trying to locate a mirror. When I found one, I pushed the guy in front of it out of the way. Then I looked up, even though I was scared to look. I froze when I saw who it was.

It was the same guy I stared at when the movie started. I can tell you one thing though, he looks much better in person! Okay, that's a weird thought, especially when it's me in this body….Mush's body.

I stumbled back a few steps, running into the bathroom stall behind me. I didn't expect the sudden movement and fell to the ground…very loudly. I barely managed to catch myself before hitting the toilet directly inside. I wouldn't be able to think very well if I was unconscious. For a few moments, all I could see were stars as my vision blurred slightly from the force of the fall. Slowly, I stood up, ignoring the weird glances I was getting. I got the feeling that this didn't happen often to Mush.

I quickly picked up a shirt and put it on. At least it would stop me from staring at myself. Being absolutely silent, I walked through the room, hoping that no one would pay any attention to me.

"Okay, so you're Mush," I whispered to myself, "That's groovy I guess." I stopped when I realized what I had said. Note to self, lingo is not used in this time.

"The sun'll come out tomorrow," someone sang out. I cringed at the song and looked to locate the source of it. Skittery! Okay, I never expected _that_. I walked towards him, having a feeling that something was familiar about him.

"Hey Mush," Jack greeted me as I walked passed.

"Hey," I mumbled in response, almost totally ignoring him. I sighed in frustration, pushing passed him without another word. I looked over to see several of the newsies staring at me in confusion.

When I reached Skittery, I studied him closely, as if I was able to see straight through him. He was about to start the next verse of the song, when I clapped my hand over his mouth, "No more," I said, "You look familiar."

"I'm Skittery, but I guess you know that already," he said.

Looking down, I suddenly noticed that weight on my right pointer finger. I saw a silver ring there, my class ring. I glanced up at him and spotted a ring on his hand as well. Suddenly, it hit me who he reminded me of, "Shakes?" Skittery looked up at the name, "I go to Lake View High School too." I showed her the ring, "See?" I put it in my pocket, "I'm Aqua."

"I know you," she exclaimed, "Do you know what going on?"

"Shhh," I said, "No one else needs to know about this."

"Isn't this cool though," she asked, "I mean, we're guys now." I glanced around quickly before pulling her out into the hallway. After a few moments of silence, she started to tap her fingers against the wall in boredom.

"I know we're guys," I replied, "How did this happen?"

"I don't know," she answered brightly, "I just woke up here. I really have no idea how."

"Look, why don't you go sell papes," I said, practically pushing her down the stairs and out the door, "The guys are already getting suspicious." I finally managed to get her out. I didn't leave the door until I heard singing fading down the street.

I got a lot of strange looks when I entered the room again. This was getting to be too much. I sighed and leaned against one of the bedposts. I really needed to think right now. Before I knew it, I was lost in thought.

Emi's POV

My dream seemed so real. All the newsies were there and I was one of them. The friendships were something that I had wanted all my life and this dream felt so real that I didn't want to wake up.

"Get up, get up," came a familiar voice, rousing me from my sleep. I rolled a little and kept my eyes closed. The voice came closer to my bed, telling me to get up. Finally I felt someone standing right over me, then suddenly, "Blink!" Well that startled me right out of my bed and I slammed onto the hard floor. Then there was laughter, male laughter.

"I'm still dreaming," I groaned as I lay flat on my stomach. I reached around and rubbed my hip as I rolled over onto my back.

"Get off the floor!"

My eyes fluttered open and the first thing I could think of, the only thing I could think of was, "I can't see!" I blinked and tried to focus. I could see, but only out of one eye. I jumped up and looked around me with my one good eye. Newsies. Everywhere. I started to laugh as I reached up, half expecting to find a patch over my left eye. When my fingers brushed against something covering my eye I laughed even harder.

"Blink, what'sa mattah?" Jack asked me, which only made me laugh harder. Jack was talking to me. But who was I? Was I still Emilia? Or was I Blink now?

"What's going on?" I stumbled forward a little, I was really uncoordinated with that patch over my eye.

"Whatta ya mean ya bummah?" Racetrack asked, punching my shoulder. "What's goin' on is you'se late. You'se slept in. We gotta get out to sell the papes." I looked down at Race, and I do mean down, he was really short. "Why ya lookin' at me like that?" Race asked pushing me a little. "Like ya nevah seen me before."

"Sorry Race, you'se just funny lookin' is all," the newsies around me laughed. I noticed Mush standing a few feet away looking a little lost. He came over to me hesitantly and looked at me carefully.

"What'sa mattah with everyone today?" Dutchy asked as he paused next to me and Mush on his way to the bathroom. "You'se all actin' weird. First Skittery, then Mush, now you," he said and continued on his way.

"Who are you?" Mush asked when everyone was out of earshot. He looked right into my eyes, as if he knew I wasn't really Blink. That did make sense, they seemed to be best friends.

"Whatta ya mean," I muttered dully.

"You'se ain't Blink," he stated matter of factly. I began to nod and opened my mouth but he cut me off, "where'd ya get that?" He pointed down at my hand. I raised my left hand to look at it. There on my ring finger was my class ring. How did that happened? How did any of this happen?

"I, uh, I found it," I stuttered.

"No ya didn't," Mush stated, stuffing his hand in his pocket and pulling out something. He opened his hand and there was a silver ring. I picked it up and looked it over. It was a little different than mine but around the stone was something that made my heart almost stop, 'Lake View High School'. That was my school!

"Who are you?" I asked, turning the question back onto Mush.

He looked around quickly to make sure no one was listening, "it's Alysha, Aqua."

"What?" I almost cried but remembered to keep my voice down. "Aqua? Short, brown hair, blue eyes?" Mush nodded. "We have English together," I whispered. "It's Emilia," I said, pointing to myself, almost to reassure myself of who I was. Or at least who I was supposed to be.

"Nova?" Aqua asked. I nodded. "How did this happen?" I shrugged my shoulders. "You're not helpin'."

"Sorry," I mumbled. "What am I supposed to say?"

"You'se gotta point," she paused and then cocked her head to one side. "Did you hear that?" She laughed a little as I nodded.

"Whatta ya mean?" I said, repeating what I had said earlier. We both laughed.

"I'm a little scared," Aqua said suddenly. "How'd this happen?"

I tapped my foot lightly, "Not sure. Maybe it's gonna be like one of those cheesy aftah school specials where we'se gotta learn somethin'."

"Makes sense," Aqua agreed.

"Did ya hear Dutchy? He said Skittery was actin' weird too," I said, "Should we go find him? Maybe the same thing has happened to him."

"It has. I've already talked to him or her actually," Aqua told me, "I sent him out to sell papes."

"Who is he?"

"You know that really hyper girl at school, Shakes," Aqua asked and I nodded, "She's in Skittery's body."

"That girl," I said in surprise, "No wonder they thought he was acting really strange."

"I guess we really should go find her, him ," Aqua said, "I'm getting confused. Anyway, she is running around the streets by herself."

I nodded and turned to go when Aqua reached out and stopped me. She pointed down at my hand again. I laughed a little, "bettah take this off huh?" I slipped the ring off my finger and stuffed it in my pocket.

Caitlin's POV

"School, I hate you," I muttered when I woke up. Keeping my eyes closed I sighed and put my hand over my face to block out the sun that was coming through my window. I almost rolled over and went back to sleep when I realized that the only windows in my room were on the opposite wall and sunlight has never, ever shone in my face in the morning. I sat bolt upright and looked around me. I was very surprised to see a bunch of other slumbering boys. I almost laughed out loud.

"Looks like a lodgin' house," I stated to myself, thinking about the Newsies Lodging House in my favorite movie. "But then that would mean," I glanced down at myself and almost shrieked. I was in long johns. "Hell no," I cried and look to my left where a familiar sling shot was laying. The red suspenders were on the floor next to a pile of clothes, and the walking stick was propped up against the wall.

I uttered a moan and flopped backwards onto the bed. At least now I can pee standing up. Wait, did! I just think that? I'm Spot Conlon, a fictional character in a movie. I pinched myself, hard. "Ow! Ow!"

Not dreaming. How in the hell did this happen? What is even happening? I looked myself over again and noticed something I hadn't before, my class ring. There it was on my index finger of my right hand, the black stone gleaming up at me. Maybe that meant I wasn't alone in this. Manhattan, I had to get to Manhattan. I dressed in a flash, not wanting to see something I shouldn't. Which felt weird since technically it was my own body.

Before I left I slipped the ring off my finger and added it to the string around my neck, which already held the mysterious key. Maybe now I would know what it was for. I looked back at the sleeping newsboys and dashed out the door. My feet carried me all the way to the Manhattan newsies lodging house and without questioning I knew the way. Like part of Spot was still with here inside this body.

Creeping inside I wondered where the other newsies would be. Maybe I was too late and they had already gone to the distribution office. I turned to leave when a voice called out to me.

"Spot?" It was Blink. I turned and saw him come in through the front door with Mush at his side.

"Yeah?" I asked a little shyly, I mean it was Blink and Mush, and they were talking to me.

"You ain't Spot are you?" Blink asked, he seemed to know. But how?

"Well," I began but paused when I saw both of them pull something out of their pockets. Suddenly there were two gleaming class rings under my nose. Blink's had a black stone, like mine but there was a star on either side, whereas mine had a music note and a camera. Mush's also had a music note but on the other side there were drama masks, and the stone was blue. I looked up at them in shock.

"It's Emilia," Blink stated and then he pointed at Mush, "and Aqua."

"Caitlin," I replied, shocked that they seemed so calm. "How did you... How did this... Oh my..."

Emi laughed, "I know how ya feel, I almost screamed 'what the heck' when I woke up dis mornin'." I laughed, remembering that Emi says that line all the time.

"We think it's weird that nothin' else transferred over with us 'cept for our class rings," Aqua stated. "And mine was on my bedside table."

"It wasn't even on your finger?" I asked. Aqua shook her head. "Has this happened to anyone else?" I asked, thinking that maybe there more than just the three of us.

Emi nodded, "Skittery." My jaw dropped and I just looked at Emi. "You know Linsi?"

"Shakes?" I cried, picturing the hyper girl stuck in Skittery's body. "Whatta sight that must'ah been!"

"She's out sellin' papes," Aqua said. "Couldn't sit still, I tell ya."

When Aqua said that I laughed, I couldn't help it, "You'se two sound so funny."

"So do you," Emi laughed. "I can't believe this is happenin'."

Aqua spoke up, "Emi think's we need tah learn somethin' from this. Then we'll go home." She paused and scratched her head.

"But I'se don't wanna go home," Emi blurted out. "I mean I'se don't wanna be a guy so much but I don't like my life." She paused as a tear trickled down her face. I was so weird to watch Emi's personality and habits displayed in a boy's body.

"Why not?" I asked. "You're so pretty and talented in art, and smart too." Emi sniffled. "I'd think you'd be dyin' to go home and look like a girl again," I said, wondering why she didn't want to go home.

"Nah," she replied, shrugging her shoulders. "Thanks but I'se not pretty and my life's not what ya think." She shifted her weight and looked over at Aqua.

"I kinda don't wanna go either," she cleared her throat nervously. "I'se mean, look, I'm Mush, he's cute." Well all laughed at that and I thought about how suddenly I didn't want to go home either.

Suddenly Skittery burst through the door. "Guys, I have problem." I looked real hard and could tell that it was Linsi inside there, hopping around from one foot to the other. "I'se gotta pee real bad."

"So go," Aqua said, waving her hand lightly.

"Oh no," Emi cried. Linsi nodded, knowing what Emi was groaning about.

"I think we'se gotta problem here," Linsi cried, hopping around faster than before. "I don't wanna see that!" she cried. I laughed a little, couldn't help it. "Let alone touch it!" Aqua and I burst out laughing.

"I know," Emi stated simply. "I had to go this mornin'." She blushed furiously, "go sittin' down and just close you eyes. That's what I did."


	4. School Daze

School Daze

Mush's POV

Ok, today definitely started strange. I woke up this morning, not to Kloppman yelling in my ear, but by loud noise blasting out of an alarm clock. I bolted out of bed. Then I discovered that I was a girl. A short girl in purple pants with frogs and a gown with a smiling face on it. It was winking and in a way, I think it was mocking me, like it knew something that I didn't.

Then I had to go to school, a place I had only heard of. The building was huge, so I was surprised when my feet decided to take over. I had no idea where I was going, but figured that they did. I was taken to this classroom with girls and guys everywhere, talking energetically.

Spot's POV

I can't believe this! I mean, I'm a girl. The first I thought when I woke up and found out was 'Who's responsible for this?' People just don't suddenly become girls without a reason, and whoever's responsible better have a good reason for turning me into one. All the power I had is gone now. What's so intimidating about a girl? And couldn't they at least let me have my cane? It feels weird without it.

Now, I'm at school. I tried to avoid it, but I was forced to. It's like I can't control this body until I've reached a specific place. I don't like being a follower.

Mush's POV 

I rushed out of the first class, extremely embarrassed. Turns out that the class was theatre and this girl…Aqua, had a part in the play they were putting on. My feet didn't want to go where they were supposed to. I thought they were in charge, guess I was wrong. I must have tripped four times on stage. It took the teacher three times before I responded to my new name. At least this body seemed to remember her cues and lines, even if I did trip over them several times.

I was in the hallway when I saw someone who seemed familiar. She was around five foot and had auburn hair below shoulder length and hazel eyes. I approached slowly, "Do I know you?" She turned and glared at me. A glare that slowly became a smirk…and a very familiar one, "Spot?"

Spot's POV

"How did you know," I asked. Immediately, the girl grabbed me in a hug that felt much too strong for a girl. I struggled for a second to breathe.

"Spot, is it really you," they asked. I felt the grip loosen however, "Sorry about that." They stepped away, apologizing hurriedly and many times.

"Who are you," I demanded, starting to get angry. She stopped apologizing and looked down at me.

"It's Mush," she said, "or Aqua." He gestured with his hands at the girl whose body he was in. I looked up at him and then started laughing, "What?"

"Now I don't have to look up to you as much," I said, smirking at him, "It's Caitlin or Misery now."

Mush's POV

"How do you think this happened Spot," I asked.

"That your new nickname now," a voice joined in the conversation, "It suits you. You're no more than a spot in the universe anyway." The two girls behind her agreed, laughing.

"Mia," Spot said, a growl seeming to form in his voice. I felt a little nervous and something told me that Aqua had had a run-in with these girls before. They seemed to finally take notice of me.

"You scared," Lillian asked mockingly, getting up close to my face.

"No," I said evenly, even though inside I felt exactly the opposite. Something told me that I needed to stick up for this girl, "Get out of my face."

"She speaks," Aurora said in mock surprise.

"Leave her alone," Spot backed me up. I tried to say something, "Let me handle this Mush." By the time he realized his mistake, it was too late.

"Mush," Mia asked, "That's right, no one likes that stuff. It's fitting since no one likes you either." I was just about ready to punch her, but was stopped when the bell rang.

Spot's POV

Mush and I separated for our classes. It's not like we could control it. We just turned and walked away. I hope I don't run into those girls again…for their own sake.

Mush's POV 

Next class was English. I was very surprised when I discovered that Blink had the same class. I was so happy to see him that I nearly tackled him, but I held in my enthusiasm. He was my best friend, at least one thing was going right today.

Blink's POV

I wandered through the halls of the huge school thinking about everything that had happened. I had met up with Mush in English class, which had been weird. There he was sitting by himself in the back of the room. He was so much shorter than normal and instead of his normal curly brown hair there was straight hair, much lighter, and the bluest eyes I had ever seen. He was Aqua now, which I guess was just about as weird as me being Emilia now.

Jack's POV

I couldn't believe what was happening to me. To me of all people. Waking up as a dang girl. In fuzzy pants and a huge shirt, in a warm bed, without Kloppy calling me. It was weird but also kinda nice. But school? I hate school. I entered the huge building after the woman who seemed to be my mother drove me in an automobile, one without a horse. That was crazy. It seemed so weird, all these things that were so new to me were old hat to everyone else. And the school, oh how I hated the idea, but this seemed so different than the school Davey told me about. I knew my way around the building, which was so weird. And I was this girl, this Rebecca, this girl people called Scribble.

Blink's POV

Somehow I knew where all my classes were. Somehow I knew other people on my classes, or Emilia's classes. And I guess not only do us newsies have nicknames, I got called Emi and Nova today. Making my way through the crowded hallways was something I wasn't used to but I was managing. I was almost to my next class when something made me stop in my tracks. Coming down the hall towards me was a girl who seemed so familiar. She was tall with short blonde hair and blue eyes and she was smiling at me. I tried to continue on my way but something made me go over to her, "Rebecca!" I found myself calling out to her.

Jack's POV

I was making my way around the school, finding out that I knew people. That people knew me. Then I saw someone whom I instantly recognized. Subconsciously I smiled at her. Then she called my name, "Rebecca!" She was a really pretty girl, with blonde hair, almost the same color as Dutchy's and green eyes that kinda sparkled when she smiled.

"Hey Nova," I found myself calling back, that was weird. I tilted my head to one side, something I wouldn't normally do. "Um, I know you."

Blink's POV

"I know," I replied. "I know you too." We tried to continue on our separate ways but just couldn't seem to move. I took a few steps in one direction but turned my head to look at Rebecca, "Jack?"

She turned her head quickly in my direction, "Blink?" I don't know how we knew, we just knew.

Jack's POV

I looked closer, it was him. Good old Blink. "You have two eyes."

Blink nodded and smiled a huge smile. Which was weird, it was the girl smiling but it looked so much like the same smile Blink was always sporting. "It's so cool," Blink said. He reached up to touch the skin just below his left eye. "It's so different to have two working eyes." He stopped smiling and crossed his arms over his chest, "do you have any idea what's going on?" He sounded so worried and a little scared.

"I, I don't know Blink," I answered truthfully, sounding a little scared myself.

"Blink?" Someone called, breaking into the conversation. Blink and I turned to face three girls.

Blink's POV

I found myself turning to face the voice, with a glare on my face. "Mia."

"Is that some sort of new pet name you two have for each other?" Mia laughed, and her groupies laughed too. "Blink," she smiled, looking at me. "And I'll say you're Wink?" She laughed, turning to Jack.

"Well what else rhymes," I said slowly. "I could call you Think, but that would be an oxymoron." Mia gave a little cry and glared at me, her nose almost touching mine.

"I think you're an oxymoron," Aurora stepped in, smiling smugly.

"You don't even know what that means," Jack spoke up. Even though I don't think he knew what it meant. I wasn't even sure how I knew what it meant. Aurora sulked back to stand behind Mia.

"Oh, baby got a mouth now?" Lillian remarked with a laugh. "Didn't know you even knew how to speak." I looked over at Jack, obviously Rebecca is shy. I could see the blush forming on her cheeks. I almost laughed, Jack never blushes. Just then the bell rang, signaling the start of next class. Mia huffed and turned on her heel. The other two followed and they walked out of sight.

"I hate being shy," Jack groaned. "I hate being a girl."

Becca's POV

I leaned over in my seat when I knew Mr. Neals wasn't watching, "hey Jinx." My friend Rochelle looked up from her work and then over at me. "Guess what?"

"Flit," she whispered, calling me by my nickname. "Be quiet. You're going to get detention, again, for talking in class."

I shook my head, "No way." I looked up at the teacher, who still had his back to the room. "Guess what?"

Jinx sighed, "what?"

"I'm starting this new story about the newsies," I covered my mouth with my hand to stifle a laugh. "I can't find my other notebook with my stories in it. I had to start a new one." My room was a huge mess, I could never find what I was looking for.

"That's not new," Jinx smiled. "You've got maybe fifty newsies stories in the making."

I smiled, it was true, "This one's different. It's about this..." I trailed off, suddenly not feeling so good. I tried again, "about this girl..." I held my stomach with one hand and raised the other. When Mr. Neals finally called on me I choked out, "I need to use the bathroom." He excused me and I left, Jinx watching my worriedly as I went.

Race's POV

I hopped from one foot to the other as the horses raced around the track. My horse almost broke away but seemed to stumble as three other horses passed him. "Dang horse," I shouted, raising my fist. Third time I've lost today. I hopped around a little more and then took off for the bathroom. I had to pee, had to since the second race. I ran around the corner and right into an older gentleman. From the ground I asked, "Buy a pape sir?" He shook his head in disgust and walked away, rubbing his arm as he went. I scrambled to my feet, today hadn't been the best selling day. I paused to count my money and then remembered I really had to get to the bathroom.

I was washing my hands in the little sink when I suddenly felt dizzy. I grabbed onto the sink for support, waiting for the dizziness to pass.

Becca's POV

I looked at myself in the mirror, my face pale. I gripped the sink as a wave of dizziness washed over me. A tear ran down my face and I groaned. My vision started to close in on me, and then everything went black.

Race's POV

I almost felt better and straightened myself when another wave of dizziness made me fall to the floor. I tried standing up but everything went black.

Becca's POV

Suddenly my vision cleared and I felt completely fine. I smiled to myself. Wanting to get back to class, I stood carefully and took a look in the mirror. I shrieked. Staring back at me was a boy. I looked closer, it was Racetrack. "What's going on here?" I shrieked again as I watch Race mouth the words along with me. I reached up and touched my face. Race did the same. I started to cry and then looked down at my hands, then at my clothes. How did I become Race?

Race's POV

Finally my vision cleared and I stood. The next race would be starting soon. I stood and then almost fell over again. The bathroom was so clean. And so much bigger. I shook my head, I must be dreaming. Or unconscious. I looked in the mirror and a girl looked back at me. She was short, like me. But unlike me she had dark brown hair and paler skin than me. Plus, she was a she. I was a she. "I'm a girl," I cried. How did this happen? One minute I'm sick, the next I'm a girl. Plus, I'm in a girl's bathroom. Suddenly the door swung open and three girls entered.

"Poor Becca," the one cooed. "Is somebody sick?"

"Shut up Mia," I snapped back. How did I know her name? She knew mine, or this girl's. I was so confused. She opened her mouth to speak again but I rushed passed her and out into a big hallway. There were doors on either side and a lot of other kids around. I looked carefully at them. Am I in the future? I laughed a little and then something seemed to tell me that I was right.

Skittery's POV

It seemed to take forever until lunchtime. Finally, a time without any teachers getting on my case. Too bad the food looks horrible and tastes even worse. I'm serious, the pizza is like cardboard and paper. The 'dessert' as they call it is like glue and sawdust. I won't even get started on the drinks. That's what I get for not bringing a lunch. I was sitting alone at a table near the front of the room, by the doors.

My day went horrible. The teachers kept asking if I was okay and that I was being too quiet. Seriously, I wouldn't be calling attention to myself if I had just recently turned into a girl. Evidently, Shakes does so all the time, since she's supposedly constantly loud and hyper. People seemed to steer clear of me however, I guess seeing a serious Shakes has gotten them nervous. They seem to think that I'm plotting something.

One of Shakes' friends approached me earlier, wanting to know what was wrong. Her name was Schiz I believe. She had reddish-brown hair and hazel eyes wide with excitement. She was worried about me being so quiet. I kinda lost track of what she said after that, she wouldn't stop talking. I finally managed to get away, she was getting kinda scary. I was so grateful when the bell rang for lunch and found myself running out the door and coming here, considering that I didn't know where the cafeteria was.

Now, I'm beginning to wonder if they'll allow you to get your money back for the food. I'm thinking that they won't, it's not worth as much as you pay for it.

My attention was drawn away from the disgusting food suddenly. Two girls were walking through the cafeteria doors. One was tall, around five foot seven while the other was about five inches shorter. They talked together excitedly and burst into laughter every once in a while. I feel like I should know them from somewhere, but I can't figure it out. Then, their eyes were suddenly on me. They immediately walked over.

The taller of the two whispered something to the other after looking at me for a minute. The other nodded in agreement at what she said. Slowly, they came to stand beside me.

"Skittery," the taller asked hesitantly, "Is that you?" I barely glanced in their direction. She sat down and the shorter one followed her example, "It's me, Blink. And Mush."

"That's Skittery all right," Mush said, "I don't know anyone else who acts like that."

"You figured that out on your own," I finally said sarcastically, "I'm so impressed. Yeah, it's Skittery. Seriously, if I wasn't, I would be giving you two some very strange looks. Who else has turned into a girl?"

"Well, I've seen Jack," Blink said, "and Mush said that he found Spot earlier today. We don't know if there are others."

Mush suddenly turned when the bathroom doors opened in the cafeteria's short hallway. I didn't pay any attention, but Mush kept staring off in that direction, "Race," he whispered. A girl who had been walking by stopped suddenly at the name. She walked over slowly and glanced around at the table.

"Mush, Blink, Skittery," she asked in surprise. All three of us nodded, "I thought I was the only one. It's Race." By now, I wasn't surprised to hear this kind of news. He sat down at the table, "What's going on?"

"What's it look like," I questioned, "We're all girls in case you haven't noticed…and we're in the future."

"I got that part," Race shot back, "but how did we get here?"

"Believe me, if I knew, I wouldn't be here right now," Mush commented, "I'm just as confused as the rest of you." All of our attention was drawn away when two more girls entered. I guess Mush and Blink recognized them, because they waved the two over. One of the girls appeared to try and calm the other down. It was obvious that it wasn't working though.

"I don't get it," the shorter said, "Why am I the only one from Brooklyn that's here? I don't even live with you guys."

"I don't know Spot," the one, who I guessed to be Jack said, "All I know is that we're here now and there's nothing we can do about it."

"Not if I can help it," Spot said, "I'm going to figure out what's going on." They sat down and everyone was reintroduced, as both themselves and the girl they were.

"One thing you need to know," I spoke up, "Don't eat the food here. It's worse than Kloppman's cooking." The group groaned at that.

Crutchy's POV

I was practically skipping down the halls all day. I had to keep moving. With both legs working, I couldn't help but do everything possible to use them. It felt so good to be like the girls and guys of the school. I finally felt like one of them. It took a lot to make me sit still.

Sure, I had a little run in with some bullies, but I didn't let it get to me. I mean, I could walk! Nothing they could say could ruin my day. As long as I had with two legs, I was going to use them.

By lunchtime, I hadn't run into anyone else. Still, I had a feeling that I wasn't the only one who had traded places. As soon as I stepped into the lunchroom, I found my gaze wandering to a group sitting nearby. They were whispering to each other and I found that very strange. Most people didn't care to keep quiet in a cafeteria, because everyone else was so loud.

Deciding that something seemed familiar about the group, I walked over. They didn't notice me until I was standing right next to them. When I looked at them, a flash came out of nowhere and I could see my friends all sitting there. Then the flash ended and they were girls again, "Hey guys!"

"Crutchy," the one I believed to be Jack said. He almost shouted it, but brought his voice down quickly.

"You can walk," Mush, I think, said in disbelief. Yes, that had to be Mush. I always thought that he was one of the more caring and sensitive ones, "How's it feel?"

"Great," I replied, "I feel normal for once in my life."


	5. Tibby's

Tibby's

Shakes' POV

I skipped down the street, not even waiting for the two behind me to catch up. How could I stay still when there were things to do? I waved to people I passed on the street. Several gave my odd stares or returned the greeting in confusion. An audible sigh came from behind me, but I didn't turn around.

"Could you stop please," Aqua asked from several feet back, "People are starting to stare."

"So," I shrugged, "What's the big deal?"

"You're acting totally un-Skittery like," Aqua told me, "The others are probably ready to send you to the nut house."

"I think she's saying that you need to calm down a little," Nova said.

"Exactly," Aqua agreed, looking gratefully over at her.

"But I wanna dance and sing," I argued, "The sun'll come out…" I was interrupted as Aqua's hand slapped over my mouth.

"Stop," she said demandingly, although I guessed that she was trying to be a little nice, "For all I know, it's gonna rain tomorrow. I hate rain."

"You're no fun," I told her, sticking out my tongue in her direction. Aqua sighed in frustration.

"And you're immature," she muttered under her breath and then lapsed into silence once again.

"Calm down, both of you," Nova said, getting both of our attention, "This is getting us nowhere. We're all in this together and we have to work together."

"That's right," I shouted, drawing several people to stare at us again. Nova glanced over at Aqua.

"Well," she asked.

"Fine," I said, not really too happy about it, "Can I at least finish the end though?"

"Not now," Nova said, "Can we make a compromise here? Shakes, learn to be a little more like Skittery and Aqua, just chill out."

"I'll try," Aqua answered. I continued to skip the street, only stopping when I noticed a diner on the side of the road. It was called 'Tibby's'.

"First thing you…" Aqua's voice faded behind me, mainly because I had stopped paying attention.

"I'm starving, let's go," I yelled out, stepping into the restaurant.

Aqua's POV 

"First thing you need to learn is Skitts is 'glum and dumb'," I said, not realizing until a few seconds later that the person who it was directed to was no longer listening. I walked behind Shakes into the restaurant, Nova right behind me, "Come on, we had a deal. At least try to keep it."

I glanced at Jack and Crutchy sitting at a table but thought nothing of it. They seemed like really good friends in the movie. Shakes had already jumped into one of the seats in excitement. Jack and Crutchy jumped a little at her sudden appearance.

"Hi guys," she greeted them loudly. The two stared at her for a second in shock.

"Hi Skitts," Jack finally returned the greeting, though he sounded a little nervous. Shakes looked around a second before grabbing the ketchup bottle from off the table. She immediately took off the lid and started drinking the contents. I turned around for a second, trying to get the sight out of my mind. I turned back around and she was still drinking out of the bottle. The others didn't look too pleased about it either.

"That's gross," I told her, "Weren't you paying any attention earlier?"

"Nope," she answered quickly, finally putting the bottle down.

"You gotta keep your end of the deal," I said, "Could you please try to act a little more like Skitts?"

"But this is fun," she argued and then starting singing again, "It's only a day away."

"Shakes, I mean Skittery," Nova asked, "I told you…"

"You told me I could finish it later, it is later," Shakes commented. I sighed once again in annoyance.

"Here isn't the place to get hyper," Nova explained, "The other guys are probably going to be here any minute." Shakes looked like she truly didn't care.

"Don't you ever pay attention," I asked, trying not to yell but not succeeding. Obviously, Shakes and I had the biggest adjustments to make in being guys. She was too hyper for Skittery and I was too moody for Mush.

I glanced over at Nova, only to see her roll her eyes in our direction. I know that Shakes and I were both going overboard with this, but this was important. Nova was about to say something when she suddenly stopped, her face a mixture of surprise and panic. I turned my attention back to Shakes.

"Guys," Nova asked, finally finding her voice.

"What," we both asked, turning to look at her.

"Jack, Crutchy," she said, pointing out the two sitting down at the table opposite Shakes. We shrugged, wondering what she was getting at, "That's not Jack and Crutchy, if you know what I mean."

"You mean…" I trailed off. I already knew that I was right, just by the look on her face.

"Scribble, Dreamer," Nova asked. The two glanced up quickly at the names.

"Who are you," Crutchy asked. Jack nodded in agreement. I then noticed the class rings on their hands.

"You go to Lake View High too," I asked slowly and then pulled out my class ring once again. Nova and Shakes did as well.

"Aqua, Nova, Shakes," Scribble, or Jack, asked in shock, "What's going on?"

"I have no idea," Nova said, "We're still trying to figure that out."

Becca's POV 

The walk from Sheepshead to the Lodging House seemed like days. My feet kept moving, even though I wasn't sure of the way. Like my feet knew where to go. I finally saw the Lodging House but my feet kept on moving. I got the feeling that no one would be at the Lodging House. I have to get to Tibby's, I suddenly thought. Which was weird, but I knew that things would be better once I was there.

When I finally saw the little diner I actually smiled, the gold lettering on the door was comforting in some way. The bell on the door jingled as I entered and five heads turned to look in my direction. I stopped in my tracks, there sitting at that table, looking directly at me, were five recognizable guys. But the weird thing was that they all seemed so familiar, and not just from the movie. Blink got up and walked over to me.

"You might want to take that thing off," he said, pointing down at my finger. I raised my hand and there on my middle finger was my class ring.

"How? What?"

Blink laid a reassuring hand on my shoulder, "It's Emi...Nova. From school," I looked at him blankly for a second before actually getting it. "You're Becca right? Um...Flit?"

I let out a happy sigh when she had said that, "Oh thank goodness. I woke up in a boys bathroom at Sheepshead. I was so scared. Somehow I knew to come here." Blink, or Nova, or whoever, led me back to the table where she pulled up a seat for me.

"Look," she said, pointing out everyone else at the table and introducing them as other girls from school. "Spot's changed too...you know Misery, um Caitlin?" I nodded.

"So why did this happen?" I asked. I noticed that Jack, or Scribble, seemed really quiet. Which was weird since in the movie Jack is obviously the leader. But here and now in this situation it was clear the Nova was the leader. It was also clear that she was trying to downplay it, since that's not how Blink acts.

"Think aftah school special," Nova was saying. "I'se thinkin' that since our rings came with us it's got somethin' to do with school." She paused and adjusted the patch over her eye. That must be strange for her.

"Maybe it's got somethin' to do with..." Mush, or Aqua started. Boy this was getting confusing. Aqua paused to grab ahold of Shakes and pull her back into her seat. "Somethin' to do with us bein' friends."

"I dunno," Dreamer spoke up. "I'se mean we ain't really friends."

"Yeah," Nova agreed with a nod. "No offense, but all of us are pretty much loners." She looked around at everyone, "and I'll be the first to admit it." She looked as if she were about to say something else when the bell on the door jingled again. She looked up and I followed her eyes to see Spot trying to get to our table unnoticed. "M...Spot," Nova called, catching herself before calling out Misery. Misery rolled her eyes and pulled up a seat.

"I was trying not to draw attention," Misery complained. "I hate being a boy, especially Spot. He's so well known."

Emi's POV 

"So I think we're gettin' closer with this thing," Aqua said as we all left Tibby's together. "It's got somethin' to do with us needin' to stick together and be friends."

"That makes sense," I agreed. I was about to say something else but I got distracted. The Delancey's. I hadn't even thought about them until there they were, standing right in front of me.

"Hiya guys," Morris said with a laugh.

"Didja all have a lunch date?" Oscar asked with a slick smile.

"Get lost," Misery snapped and lunged at Oscar. She seemed really angry. Oscar looked surprised as Misery took him down. They rolled over and began fighting.

"Skittery and Jack," I said, turning to Shakes and Scribble. "Please get Crutchy out of here," I said as Morris lunged at Scribble. I pushed Morris down before he could get at Scribble and suddenly there was a huge fight. I knew that Aqua had gotten out of there since Mush wouldn't fight like this. That left me and Misery and Flit but I knew Flit would try to get out as soon as she could.

I heard someone yell out for us to stop and I felt a rough hand grab my collar. I was pulled into a standing position by a cop. "The bulls," I muttered. I looked around and saw that Flit had left, thankfully. But there was Misery struggling against another cop. Next thing I knew we were in the refuge.

Rebecca's POV 

"I can't believe they got sent to the refuge," Ann sighed worriedly. "I don't know what I'd do if I got sent there." She paused to glance around nervously. "I've never even been to detention before."

"I wish there was somethin' we could do," Aqua said.

I looked up slowly, "Maybe there is." Everyone looked at me in surprise. I knew I was quiet and being Jack didn't help. I felt like I should be doing more. Like I should be leading. Unfortunately Nova was the one with the ideas and the plans, and she was in the refuge. And so was Misery, the tough one. We'd be outta luck if we ever encountered the Delancey's without Nova or Misery. "Meybe we can get them outta there," I said, a little louder this time. Ignoring the looks on everyone else's faces. "Like in the movie," I added.

"Like crawl over the side of the building and pull 'em through the window?" Aqua suggested.

"Nah that'll never work," Shakes said, jumping up and down. "Maybe we should sneak in, dressed like nuns. Then we could tie up Snyder and even poison him. Then we sneak through the place, poisoning anyone who tries to stop us." Shakes stopped when Aqua put her hand over Shakes' mouth.

"But sneaking in just might work," I pondered. "I think it just might! We'll have those two outta there in no time. Here's the plan..."


	6. Detention

Detention

Jack's POV

"Well, what are they doing in detention?" Race asked as we stood in front of a classroom door after school. The bell had rung and we waited for almost everyone to clear out before meeting in front of the detention room.

"Spot," I began, stopping myself and looking around. Good, no one had heard. "Caitlin," I continued, "beat up that Mia girl. Those three bullies started it but Caitlin got in trouble."

"Ok Jack," Mush said in his innocent little way. "No one can hear us. Can you please call 'em by their real names?"

"Yeah, it's kinda creeping me out," Blink added.

I cocked my head to one side, a little surprised when my new chin length hair brushed my face, "Like being a girl isn't creepy already?" I paused and shifted my weight. "Skitts said something to a teacher, not sure what but it landed him here."

"Well we gotta get them out," Crutchy said. He had not been able to sit still now that he had use of both his legs and now he was jumping from tile to tile.

"Yeah," Race said, reaching out and grabbing hold of Crutchy's arm. "How can we figure out how to get our bodies back with Skittery and Spot in detention?" Everyone looked at me expectantly.

"Don't worry," I said, holding my hands out in a 'stop' motion. "I've got a plan."

Skittery's POV

Detention is so boring. And let me tell you, there are some weird people in here. I don't understand how exactly I got sent here. That teacher was asking for it.

It was fifth period, math. The teacher, Mrs…well, I don't remember anymore, just had to ask the question I was so tired of hearing. 'Are you okay?' No, I'm not okay, I'm in a girl's body! I didn't say that out loud though.

My response, "Why can't you people just leave me alone? Aren't I allowed to have a bad day every once in a while? I'm having a bad day, okay? I don't want to be here, in this classroom, listening to this. I'm outta here!"

The teacher looked a little shocked by my outburst, I found it kind of funny.

I guess this Shakes girl has never gotten into this kind of trouble before. Before I could even move to leave, she stopped me, only to hand me a slip of paper. Not even thinking about it, I ripped it into small pieces and threw it on the ground.

"That's it," she yelled, "You're going to detention right now. I'm sending you to the principal!" She handed me something called a referral form and sent me out of the room, which I was only too glad to do.

On the way, I saw Mia exiting the nurse's office. She was limping and her right eye was completely black and swollen shut. I laughed at her while I passed by. She just glared back, which got me laughing even harder.

The next thing I know, I'm in detention. I barely paid the principal any attention while he droned on about conduct in the classroom and setting examples to other students. Now I'm wondering how much longer until I get out of here.

Jack's POV

I knocked quickly on the door to the detention room, glancing back at Race who was laying on the floor moaning in pain. "Mr. Truman," I called, shaking my head when I realized I was never told his name. A tall, dark haired man opened the door and looked at me with a stare that could melt ice. "My friend," I started, pointing back at Race. "He, um, she's not feeling so good." Mr. Truman looked over my shoulder at Race, who hadn't realized that someone was looking at him. Race was laying on the floor, laughing at something Crutchy had said.

Mr. Truman rolled his eyes, "you know where the nurse's office is." With that, he closed the door in my face.

"Race!" I yelled, turning to face my friends. "You blew it!"

Race quickly got to his feet, ready to defend himself, "Crutchy was supposed to tell me when he was coming to the door!"

"I forgot," Crutchy sighed. "Sorry guys."

"Well, that means we need a new plan," Blink said slowly. "What now?"

"Well," Mush said, stepping in closer. "I've got an idea."

Skittery's POV

I groaned silently as the door closed shut behind Jack. I had been so hopeful when he had shown up. Then, as always, that hope was taken away by Mr. Truman, our wonderful teacher, when he sent Jack away. Note my sarcasm, Mr. Truman is the meanest guy I've ever met. We can't do anything more than homework in here.

I glanced up to look where Spot was sitting. He was glaring up at the teacher's desk, no doubt trying to form a revenge plan. If we could have talked, I'd be planning one along with him. It was so boring that I wanted to sleep, but Mr. Truman would slam a ruler on our desks whenever we tried. I decided to risk it and talk.

"Sp-Misery," I whispered. Spot turned to me slowly with a 'what do you want?' look. I could tell that he was angry. Hey, so was I.

"What," he whispered back, his tone unmistakably harsher.

"Got any plans," I asked.

"If I did, would we still be here," he replied, now glaring at me, forgetting all about the teacher. I rolled my eyes at him, which only served in making him angrier. Who ever said that I was scared of Spot Conlon? I'm not, and he knows that. He doesn't like that fact.

"I don't know," I snapped back, "How am I supposed to know what you think?" I ended the conversation there, sitting back and turning away from him.

That's when I noticed that everyone in detention was watching us intently. I guess that's the most action they've ever seen in here. Unfortunately, it also attracted the attention of Mr. Truman. He glared in our direction.

"Do I have to separate you two," he asked coldly. I scowled and sat back. I didn't know that Spot and my argument was his problem. I noticed that after that, he paid special attention to both Spot and me. This was gonna be a long day.

Jack's POV

"I am not wearing this," I said, folding my arms across my chest.

"You wanna get those two outta detention so we can be guys again?" Mush asked, staring me in the eye. I nodded and grumbled a little. "Ok, so everyone ready?" I turned to see the rest of the guys nodding. Mush had dragged us to the drama room and dug up some pretty wild costumes. It was funny to see the guys, not only as girls, but now as aliens as well.

"Hurry up though," Blink protested. "This things is boiling," he pulled off the enormous head of his costume, his hair was plastered to his face and neck. The weird thing was, he was still cute. I mean, Emi was still cute. This is getting really confusing. Mush snapped me out of my thoughts when he knocked on the class room door. When Mr. Truman opened the door we began making noises and wandering around the hall.

"Aliens!" Mush screamed. I saw Mr. Truman roll his eyes and I caught a glimpse of a very angry looking Skittery before the door was shut again.

"So much for your plan Mush," Race sighed, pulling off part of his costume.

"Shut up," Mush scowled. "I don't see any of you coming up with a plan."

"I have one," Crutchy spoke up. "It's kinda simple but I think it will work."

"Alright," I said, happy to shed the heavy costume. "What's your plan?"

Skittery's POV

I glared at the door as it closed shut. Was that the best plan they could come up with? Obviously, Mr. Truman wasn't stupid and could see right through their tricks. This only made me angrier. I was already mad because of my fight with Spot. Actually, it was because we had been caught. I didn't mind getting on Spot's bad side, the main reason being that he wouldn't do anything to me.

Drumming my fingers on the desktop, I tried to think of any way to get out of here. When I heard someone clearing their throat, I glanced up to find Mr. Truman glaring at me. I stopped tapping my fingers, but returned his gaze. Why do adults think that teenagers are scared of them? Most aren't, but some decide not to say anything. I was different. I mean, I grew up on the streets of New York. You had to be tough.

"Hey," a low voice caught my attention. I turned to face Spot, wondering what he wanted to talk to me about. Weren't we already in enough trouble?

"What," I asked, glaring at him. I still wasn't quite ready to forgive him yet, not that there was anything to forgive. I glanced up at Mr. Truman, who for once looked preoccupied with something else, "Unless you have a plan, I don't want to hear it."

"Well, I am Spot Conlon," he said, "that must count for something." I saw that familiar smirk come across the girl's face.

"In case you haven't noticed, this isn't New York," I told him, "No one cares who you are." Spot glared back at me, but I knew that I was right. We weren't newsies, not anymore. We were regular high school students from the future. Who would listen to us now? Most would think we were crazy, which was exactly what I didn't need right now. I turned back to the clock, wishing that the minute hand would move a little faster.

Jack's POV 

We all looked at Crutchy expectantly. "So what's the plan?" I asked, wringing my hands together. We had to get Skitts and Spot out soon. I wanted to go home.

"Well, we could..." but Crutchy was cut off by a voice coming over the intercom.

"Would Mr. Truman please come to the office for an important phone call. Mr. Truman to the office." We all looked at each other quickly and tried to hurry out of the way. We all found a place to hide except for Mush, who tried to look casual in the middle of the hall.

The door to the classroom swung open quickly and Mr. Truman rushed out. "Aqua," he called when he saw Mush. "Please watch over the detention room while I'm gone." Mush nodded and smiled as Mr. Truman disappeared down the hall in a hurry.

"This is perfect," Mush squealed, really sounding like the girl he currently was. He rushed into the classroom and the only thing we heard was, "Class dismissed!"


	7. One Failed Attempt Deserves Another

One Failed Attempt Deserves Another

Rebecca's POV

"Here's the plan…" I began, but got cut off.

"I still wanna poison Snyder!" Shakes cried. She jumped away from Aqua, who was wiping her hand on her pants. Obviously Shakes had licked her to get her hand off her mouth, "Please? I hate that guy!"

"No, the plan is…" again, I got cut off.

"What if we just ask if Misery and Nova can leave?" Aqua asked with a shrug, reaching for Shakes.

"Yeah, that'll work," Becca laughed.

Dreamer finally spoke up, "Guys. What did Nova say? We have to work together. We can't fight about this or nothing will ever happen."

Aqua nodded, "You're right. We have to think or something to get those two out. And fast."

"I still say we poison Snyder."

"No!" Everyone said in unison.

"This is what we'll try…" I finally said, without interruption.

Emi's POV 

"This is the worst day of my life," Misery groaned. She was sitting on one of the bunks, her knees pulled up to her chest. She was sporting the famous Spot glare, "How are we gonna get outta here?"

"Dunno," I replied, trying not to get mad at Misery. She was so down all the time. I even remember times that I avoided walking too close to her in school because sometimes she actually scared me.

"I wish we were out of here," she went on. The next thing that she said surprised me, "What are the others going to do without you?" I gave her a blank stare and she looked up at me. I could see tears welling up in her eyes, "You're the one bringing everyone together."

"But you're the tough one," I replied, "If you hadn't jumped Oscar then we might all be in here."

Misery shook her head, "I guess. But we all need to be together to work on this. What are we gonna do?" She looked like she needed a hug, but it would have been way too strange for Blink to be hugging Spot.

"It'll be fine," I replied, "They'll think of something to get us outta here." I sat down next to Misery and we both sighed at the same time. She looked over at me and we smiled. This wasn't going to be too bad.

Flit's POV 

"Are you sure this is gonna work," I asked, trying to get comfortable in the cramped space. I looked over at Scribble…at least where I thought she was.

"We have to try," she replied. I shifted position in the small laundry basket. It wasn't exactly small, if one could hold all of us.

"Shakes, get your elbow out of my ear please," Aqua asked from beside me, trying her best to be polite. I heard the rustling of fabric as they attempted get some space between them.

"Nuns outfits," Shakes suddenly exclaimed, "We could use these…"

"We're not using that idea," Aqua cut her off sharply, "Now be quiet before someone out there hears you."

"Good luck guys," Dreamer commented from outside, right around the corner from us to stay out of sight. Since she was Crutchy now, no one wanted to put her in any danger. Still, she was there to give us support.

"Is anyone coming," I questioned, trying to hear any sounds from outside. I heard the faint sound of footsteps.

"Shh," Scribble suddenly quieted us. After a few seconds, I felt the cart moving. Everyone was absolutely silent as we waited for our plan to take action. It was a few minutes before the cart finally stopped. Little by little, sheets and other objects were taken off us. Okay, I didn't expect this, "Looks like we have to take this one step at a time."

"Forget the rules," I said, "We gotta get out of here!"

"Let's make a run for it," Aqua suggested. Almost immediately, everyone jumped up. Laundry went flying everywhere, startling the two men unloading it. Taking the chance, we all hurriedly looked around for an exit.

"What are you doing in there," one of the men asked finally. Instead of taking the time to answer, I pulled Scribble along behind me as I noticed an open door. The others were quick to follow.

"Hi, who are you," Shakes asked as she ran past.

"Now isn't the time," Aqua yelled out, pushing Shakes to keep her moving.

"Come back here," the other man yelled out. We took off as fast as we could, racing through the door. Aqua slammed it behind her and I had to laugh as two thuds collectively came from behind it.

"This way," Scribble pointed to a door that obviously led outside. Running out into the cool night air, we ran as fast as we could back towards the Refuge.

"We need a better plan," I called out, quickly seeing the two men chasing us disappear from sight.

Emi's POV

After a dismal lunch we all trudged back to our room. Misery grumbled the whole way. "I really wanna to get out of here," she muttered under her breath and we sat down on the hard beds.

"Out of here as in the refuge?" I asked, leaning back on my hands. "Or out of here as in..." I glanced down at myself and Misery shrugged.

"I''se not really a fan of being a boy," she answered in a low whisper. "But I meant the refuge." I nodded and Misery leaned back as well. "But I don't really wanna go home, if ya know what I mean." She looked at me with raised eyebrows.

I nodded, "I'se know what ya mean." I leaned towards Misery and whispered, "I don't wanna go home either." I could tell Misery was about to say something, her mouth opened but before any sound came out there was yelling coming from outside.

"Hey ya Spot, Blink," one of the littler kids called from the window. He turned and I saw that it was the kid everyone called Tips. Tips motioned for us to come to the window. "Look," he called.

Misery looked at me quickly before we rushed over to the window. Tips moved over and we peered out the dirty window to the street below. "What?" Misery asked, her eyes scanning the street.

"

That," I said, pointing at our friends running away from the laundry truck. "What are they doin'? That's no way to rescue us," I sighed and turned away from the window, leaning against the cold wall. "We're never gonna get outta here."

Aqua's POV

"I still don't know why I'm on bottom," I groaned from my standing position under the window several feet above me, "I may be in Mush's body, but that doesn't mean that I'm that strong."

"Hold still," Scribble called, "Shakes, get over here." When she received no answer, I glanced around for her. Shakes was nowhere in sight.

"Where'd she go," I asked, already growing frustrated with the hyper girl.

"We'll just have to do this without her," Flit commented from beside me.

"Yeah, who knows where she is by now," Dreamer agreed, "I know I can't do much, but you can use my crutch if you need."

"Thanks," Scribble told her and then turned to me, "Kneel down."

I sighed, but did as she asked. Scribble climbed onto my shoulders and I slowly stood up, "How far are we?"

"About ten feet," she called back and then climbed down, "Dreamer, it looks like we'll be needing your help." Dreamer brightened slightly, glad to finally be helping out in some way.

"What can I do," she asked.

"Get onto Flit's shoulders," Scribble told her, "You'll be on top. We'll need the extra height to reach the window." Flit kneeled down and I helped Dreamer onto her shoulders. I handed her the crutch, she had insisted that we might need it.

Scribble allowed Flit to climb atop of her own shoulders. I braced myself on the wall, as I kneeled down and Scribble's weight plus the other two was added. Slowly, I stood up, careful not to move too quickly. I tried not to grimace at the great weight on my shoulders.

"Can you reach it," Flit's voice reached down to my level.

"Almost," Dreamer answered faintly, my concentration on not collapsing blocking out most other senses besides standing up.

"Can you get any higher," Scribble's voice said. After a minute, I realized that she was talking to me. I stood up straighter without standing on tiptoe. Seconds later I heard a soft tapping from above me and figured that the crutch had been enough to reach the window.

"I got nun outfits," a loud voice nearly yelled from behind me. I turned around, almost too quickly.

"Stop moving," Scribble told me.

"Cheese it," a familiar voice called out, "Snyder's coming!" After that, everything seemed to blur together.

"Dreamer, get on my back," Flit commanded. Dreamer obeyed immediately and they quickly climbed down. Scribble jumped down from my shoulders.

"Over here," Scribble called, motioning everyone to a spot hidden from view of the window. After a second of getting used to normal gravity, I ran over and joined them, pulling Shakes behind me.

"What now," I asked.

"Let's sneak in and poison Snyder," Shakes suggested once more. I groaned, thinking that it was our only plan left.

Emi's POV

"I'll bet Cowboy's comin' to save ya two," Ten Pin said from his window seat. He looked out the window again and sighed. Somehow I knew his story. He was abandoned at a really young age and sent here. I don't think anyone even knows his real name. I blinked quickly, willing myself not to cry. Poor kid.

"Dunno 'bout that kid," Misery stated, pulling me away from my thoughts. "Cowboy's not actin' like himself these days." I pulled my knees to my chest and watched Misery. Spot was so...short in real life. Shorter than I had imagined. I know Misery had taken extra time in the bathroom this morning. And I knew what she had done. It was the same thing I had done earlier. I thought back to the moment I had finsihed washing my face in the dirty sink, looked up into the cracked mirror and stopped. Almost like I wasn't even breathing. I just looked.

It was like someone was mimicking my every move. I reached up to touch my face and the boy in the mirror did the same thing. I sighed and so did Blink. I blew away a strand of sandy blond hair and the boy did the same. I wondered what Blink was doing in my body at that very moment and felt connected to him, not just body, but him. I couldn't put it into words.

"Blink!" Misery shouted, snapping me back into the present. She was standing by the window, Ten Pin at her side. "Look!" I rushed to the wondow and looked out. There, about three feet below the window was a stack of our friends. Literally.

"What are they doing?" I asked, stifling a laugh as the tower wobbled a little. Suddenly there was shouting and they all climbed down and rushed away. I sighed again. "Failed attempt number two."

"Where was Skittery?" Misery asked. I paused, I hadn't seen him.

Shakes' POV

"Please, let's sneak in and poison Snyder," I asked, not bothering to hide the excitement out of my voice if we really did it.

"Why'se he not in jail," Flit asked suddenly. 

"Aw he knew some big wig and got out," Dreamer said.

"What about my idea," I reminded them. I watched as the rest of the group talked quietly amongst themselves. Finally, they separated. Scribble was the first to speak.

"We'll give it a try," she told me, "But we'll just sneak in. We're not poisoning Snyder."

"Aw, why not," I asked, "He deserves it."

"I know he does," Scribble replied, "But that would be murder."

"Ok," I agreed reluctantly, but was still excited. Everyone grabbed a nun outfit and put them on.

"This doesn't look right," Aqua commented. I had to laugh at Mush in a nun outfit. You could see the muscles through the material.

"Use this," Dreamer told her, handing Aqua some fabric, "Stuff it into the outfits. It should be enough that Snyder will have no idea." Everyone followed the instructions, trying to looks as much like nuns as possible.

"I can't move," Flit remarked, "How do nuns walk around in these things?" I only laughed harder at the ridiculous costumes.

"Quiet," Aqua told me, "If this plan is gonna work, we don't want to attract any attention."

"How do I look," I asked, pulling one of the outfits on. Aqua quickly handed me some extra sheets.

"Like a newsie trying to pose as a nun and it's not working," she answered. I wasn't quite sure if she was trying to be funny or not. I decided to just ignore her. Everyone pulled the hoods down over their faces.

"Let's go," Scribble said and we all walked up to the front door of the Refuge. She knocked and I suddenly started laughing. Everyone shot me a glare, but returned their gazes to the door when it opened. When I saw Snyder standing there, I wanted to kick him, but was stopped by Aqua stepping in front of me.

"Ow," she exclaimed quietly as my foot slammed into her own. I didn't quite feel sorry for doing it though. Aqua sighed and shot me a quick glare.

"We're here to see the children," Scribble remarked in her version of a woman's voice. It sounded really funny since technically she was now a guy. Snyder looked at us in confusion, but didn't hesitate in letting us in. He thinks he can hide a secret from us. Believe me, we know all.

"Right up the stairs," Snyder told us, acting like he was the nicest person in the world. I could see the glare he shot us however as we headed up, only to smile again when we glanced back.

We walked up, the silence broken every once in a while by my giggling. Snyder didn't have a clue what was going on. The others told me to keep quiet, but I couldn't really help it.

When we reached the door to the room, Scribble reached for the knob. As she turned it, I heard shuffling sounds coming from inside the room.

"It's Snyder. Everyone to your places," someone called, sounding panicked. All noise stopped as the door swung open under Scribble's touch.

"That's not Snyder," a voice said. Everyone retreated from their spots by the beds, crowding around us, "What are nuns doing here?

"We're here to see two guys by the names of Blink and Spot," Flit answered, faking a nun like voice.

"Who wants to know," Misery asked, coming forward, Spot's smirk on her face.

"We do," Scribble said and motioned at the rest of us. We removed our hoods, revealing who we really were. Nova and Misery had looks of shock on their faces. I guess they never thought we'd break them out. Then they started laughing.

"We're here to break you out," Aqua told them, obviously not in the mood to have people laugh at her.

"But how," Nova asked, finally taking a breath.

"What did you think this was for," Flit asked, taking the stuffing out, "You can hide underneath."

"I think Snyder would notice a four legged nun," Misery pointed out.

"I think you would take the chance," Dreamer said, "Don't you wanna get outta here?"

"Yeah," Nova and Misery replied together.

"Let's go," Misery said, "And hope Snyder doesn't notice." The two girls got under Flit and Aqua's costumes. Aqua had to use the most because of Mush's obvious muscles, which didn't help in making her look like a nun.

The other girls crowded around them to hide Nova and Misery from view. Slowly, they walked towards the stairs. The other guys gathered around the door, wanting to see if our plan worked. Seeing Snyder watching downstairs, the others quickly retreated back to their bunkroom.

"We had a lovely visit," Scribble told Snyder as we reached the bottom, after what seemed like forever, changing her voice once again, "They're very nice boys." The tight group moved towards the door.

Snyder watched us closely as we walked away. I had to urge to laugh in his face. We had fooled him and he didn't suspect a thing. Once we reached the opposite side of the door and walked outside, the costumes were taken off quickly. Everyone was too glad to get rid of the boiling outfits.

"We did it," I yelled out, "I knew that my plan would work!" I was immediately shushed.

"We're not out of here yet," Scribble said.

We all turned as the front door to the Refuge opened again. Snyder was standing there once again, grinning at us really freakily.

"Run," Nova yelled. We immediately followed orders. I took a little longer actually. I ran…right after kicking Snyder in the shin. I laughed as I raced away.


	8. Sleepover

Notes: The next chapter will take a while longer until we post it. We are currently working on it though.

Blink's POV

I moved around Emi's...I mean my bedroom, picking up things here and there. I could tell that Emi liked her room a lot. It was carefully decorated with pictures of people I had never seen. Apparently they were movies posters of old movies, classics I heard. I looked around the room and realized I had cleaned it up. I cleaned up the room because the rest of the guys were coming over.

What's wrong with me? Was I really turning into a girl? I stood in the middle of the room, my toes curling and uncurling on the soft white rug. Finally I snapped back into reality and went to the closet quickly, tossing some clothes on the floor. I pulled back the covers on the bed and kicked a pile of papers over. Satisfied, but a little unhappy about the mess, I smiled, and then promised myself that as soon as the guys left I'd clean it back up.

I flopped down on the bed and sighed. Emi's mom was really mean, I didn't understand why. She asked me this morning why I wasn't smarter. I don't think she knows her daughter very well, I feel really smart in Emi's head. She knows a lot. A lot about art, about history, about English, about the world.

I was impressed once I started realized what this girl knew. I noticed that the other guys were realizing things about the girls they were at the time. Like Race, this girl Flit, she was a good writer, a great writer. And Jack found out that Scribble is really talented with music. And Misery isn't so miserable all the time; she's actually a nice person, something that nobody else at school seemed to know.

Aqua is this really good actress, Medda would love her. Ann is always off in her own little world, which is why everyone calls her Dreamer, but she's always thinking about someone else. Crutchy found that out when he realized he was overly concerned about Mia and her black eye.

Skittery was having the hardest time with his switch, being Shakes and all. She just never sat still and Skittery couldn't seem to control his own limbs. Except one day when he felt the need to sit down at a piano. Turns out Shakes is a talented pianist.

Pianist, before all this I would have laughed at that word, thinking it was something else. Don't get me wrong, so would've the rest of the guys. Speaking of, that must be them now.

Jack's POV

I approached the door to Emi's house and knocked. I waited for the sound of footsteps inside, but heard nothing. Frustrated, I knocked harder. There's no way they shouldn't hear this.

Looking around, I spotted this button by the side of the door. Curious, I pressed it. I jumped when I heard chimes coming from inside. After a few more minutes of waiting, the door opened slowly. It swung open however once they saw that it was me.

"J-Scribble," Blink exclaimed, "You made it. Come on, everybody's upstairs already." Once I stepped in, I realized why they hadn't heard me earlier. Loud noise from coming from above.

"No, that makes it louder," a voice, I believe Spot, was saying, "You turn it this way." Seconds later, the sounds got louder.

"I told you it was this way," Mush said, and the noise lowered. I shot Blink a confused look.

"They're experimenting with everything in there," he explained, "I can't count the number of times Emi's mom has told us to keep it down." He led me upstairs. I was almost scared to enter the room. What exactly was going on?

"Jack's here," Blink yelled when we entered the room. Almost immediately, Spot tried to turn the music down, but Mush stopped him. Mush turned it down while Spot shot him a glare.

"Great, we can start now," Spot said, "It's about time you showed up Jack. What took ya so long?"

"Nevermind," I told everyone, "I just had some things to do. We have something more important to do anyway. Does anyone have any idea how this happened?" I waited while everyone found a seat before continuing, "Remember anything from before?"

"Don't ask me," Spot told us, "I was in Brooklyn, not Manhattan. And since all but me were in Manhattan…"

"It must have happened to us," I cut in.

"It probably occurred that night," Crutchy commented, "If it had happened earlier, then we wouldn't have woken up as girls."

"Except me," Race said, "I switched in the middle of the school day."

"Either way, I agree with Crutchy," I said, "Did anything strange happen?"

"It was like any other night," Mush shrugged, "We were all playing poker and running around like usual."

"There was that fight we had," Skittery spoke up, "Remember? Race was boasting about his poker skills and Blink tackled him. Mush got in the middle of it too."

"Yeah, everyone was cheering for us," Blink said, "They knew Race couldn't win. Right Mush?" Mush nodded while Race glared at him.

"That was just before Kloppman came up," Crutchy told us, "We almost didn't hear him."

"He said something," Skittery said, "I was standing right by the door." He immediately had everyone's attention.

"What did he say," I asked. There was silence as Skittery thought for a while.

"He mentioned something about us acting more like girls," Skittery exclaimed suddenly, "Could that be it? He said that they behaved more than we did."

"But then why were we the only ones," I questioned, "Why not all the other guys?"

"We are the older ones of the group," Blink said, "Most of the younger kids look up to us. Could it be possible that it we could be better influences? Even Spot?" Everyone laughed as Spot glared at Blink for even thinking that.

Blink's POV

"What the heck's this?" Race asked from his seated position on the floor of Emi's room. He was holding out a black tube and looking at it curiously.

"Make up," Skittery replied. "It's for your eyelashes," he added.

"How do you know that?" Spot asked with a laugh. "You like being a girl?"

"You know for someone in Emi's closet you really shouldn't be talking," I spoke up. Spot put the dress he was holding back in the closet and blushed furiously. "Besides, from what I hear about Caitlin she wouldn't be caught dead in that."

"It doesn't look like something Emi would wear either," Jack observed. He went to the closet and pulled the dress out again. It was dark pink and kind of fluffy, for lack of better word.

"Hey," Mush called, he pick up a picture on Emi's desk. Curiously I peeked over his shoulder. It was a picture of a younger Emi in the pink dress standing next to an older girl in a white dress and a man in a suit. "She wore it at a wedding," Mush explained.

"Who's that?" Jack asked, also looking at the picture. He pointed at the older girl.

I shrugged, "I don't..." Suddenly I knew who the girl was, an intense feeling of sadness washed over me, "Emi's sister."

"What?" Crutchy asked, his mouth full. Next to using both legs Crutchy liked junk food best about the future.

"Her sister," I replied. "She got married four years ago and then she died last summer," I explained, feeling weird that I knew the story. A few images of how Emi's sister died flashed through my mind but I didn't share.

"Weird," Spot and Race said in unison.

"New topic please," I said, shaking the feeling of sadness away.

"No problem," Skittery said with a smile that seemed a little forced. "Anyone ever wondered what it would be like to wear make up?"

Mush's POV

The first thing I noticed about makeup was that it was extremely uncomfortable. I will never have any idea why girls like to wear it. I have a feeling that it was more uncomfortable for Aqua than it was for me. She may be in my body, but I knew that a part of her was still here. Something also told me that she never wore makeup unless absolutely necessary.

Everything that I felt vanished the moment I saw Spot. I may not know fashion much, but I knew that the combination he was wearing didn't match. I immediately started laughing quietly, not wanting to make him too mad.

"Does this dress make me look fat," Skittery asked suddenly, twirling around and watching himself in the mirror. He sounded so serious saying that. That was enough to send me into a fit of laughter. A strange feeling came over me suddenly. It was a weird kind of joy, like Aqua hadn't laughed this hard in a while. Everyone turned to give me confused stares.

"Sorry," I managed to say between breaths. It was almost like I was starting to feel Aqua's emotions, like they were finally coming to the surface. I know that Aqua didn't care what others thought of her, but still I could sense a bit of discomfort at being around so many people, even though I, myself, had known them for years.

I almost mechanically brought my legs in closer, covering them more with the dress I was wearing, which I was getting tired of wearing. It was like I couldn't control what I was doing. Automatically, I looked down at the ground, feeling extremely uncomfortable at the moment.

"Ow," a shout drew my attention away from the floor. I looked up to see Race holding his finger as if in pain. Glancing over, I saw a curler plugged into the wall. While the situation itself wasn't funny, seeing Race with messy curls was hilarious.

"Mush, are you okay," Jack asked suddenly. I knew that I was acting stranger than usual, but it wasn't all my fault.

"Yeah," I answered, "It's just that…" I trailed off, having second thoughts about telling what may be a secret.

"It's just that what," Blink asked. Then I knew that I couldn't keep it secret. Blink was my best friend. If I didn't tell him now, I would eventually. Might as well get it over with. It took me a second to notice that everyone was looking at me. I found myself involuntarily blushing.

"You can tell us," Crutchy told me, "We'll keep it a secret if you want." I nodded quickly in answer.

"It's not me, it's Aqua," I explained. The others looked like they understood, which they should considering that they're also in girls' bodies, "She…doesn't like herself very much." I found it hard to say, though it was me saying it, not her, "Doesn't think that she's pretty or that anyone would ever like her." Everyone exchanged glances and I knew that everyone else probably felt the same about the girls they were in. Suddenly, I had a thought…a serious one. Maybe there was more than one reason for this sudden switch.

Blink's POV

It was weird, I couldn't sleep, but everyone around me was dead to the world. Spot was even snoring, loudly. We had learned so much about each other that night. About us as guys and about us as girls, if that makes any sense. After the strange suddenly knowledge about Emi's sister I found myself keeping on ear on the guys and one ear on myself, trying to learn more about Emi. And I think the guys were doing the same. Mush looked like he was off in his own little world half the time. Jack and Crutchy would talk to the group, then to each other in hushed tones. Race kept glancing at himself in the mirror. Skittery seemed pre-occupied with make up, whatever that might mean. And Spot was completely un-Spot-like. Since I couldn't sleep I quietly crawled out of bed, over Skittery, who had fallen asleep next to me, and slipped out the partially closed bedroom door.

I started thinking about the others, not the guys though. I started thinking about the girls. They were so different than us. Kloppy would die if he found out some of the things girls do. I think he has this idea that girls are perfect. He's sadly mistaken. But they are pretty neat.

Take Flit for example. She's interesting. Race says she is always talking, like he can't control his own mouth. The first thing he said when he came over was that Emi's room is so much cleaner than Flit's, no matter how hard he tries to tidy it up. And she can't stand the color yellow, something he still doesn't know the meaning behind. She keeps to herself a lot, even I can see that. It's strange, a girl that talks that much keeping to herself?

And Scribble. She's like Flit in that they're both always writing, but she's much more subdued than Flit. Subdued, didn't know I knew that word. Jack told me about the time that he felt himself reaching for a violin, of all things. Apparently she plays so well. Won't let us hear it though. Jack says he can feel her struggling. He says that she's having a hard time being him, but that he can feel her starting to win the struggle. He told me in confidence that he's happy for her, and doesn't know why.

Misery, it's not a fitting name. Spot told me that everyone is afraid of her. He almost cried when we talked about it. He says that she's tired of people not bothering to get to know her. He insists that she's a good person, and I believe him. Sure, she can be loud and kinda bossy sometimes but she's genuinely nice. We all think so. She's kinda crazy, in my opinion, but who isn't? She loves the rain, she loves loud music. And she hates school. But miserable? I think she's just sad sometimes.

I think out of all of them, Dreamer is the one I know the least about. Crutchy is too happy with both legs to talk much. But I do know that she's really quiet and shy. Everyone knows that. But, does everyone know that she can have a sick mind? She's pretty too, all the girls are. But you can tell that they don't think so. Maybe it's a girl thing. Dreamer loves junk food, which is maybe where Crutchy acquired his taste for the stuff. Acquired, I'll have to remember that one.

I think out of all of us that switched bodies, Shakes and Skittery are the least alike. Poor Skittery, he told me that it's so hard to keep up with her. She's always moving. I've seen Skitts struggle with his own body, or her body. But underneath all the hyper-activity she's honestly a sweet person. Skittery told me that too. He also says that she's a great piano player, but like Scribble, we've never heard. I had to laugh when Skittery told me about his biggest problem with being Shakes, it's the condiments thing. It makes him ill, makes me ill just thinking about it. Another thing he told me was that he thought Emi was the prettiest girl he'd ever seen. But it made us both uncomfortable and we haven't spoken much since.

Aqua seems like she's very much in control. At least, that's what I thought. Mush tells me differently. Says she does seem to be in control, but that inside, she's scared. And I understand what he means. She is shy though, most of these girls are and I think that has something to do with why it was these girls who were chosen. But Aqua could be a female Jack, she may be scared but she knows what's going on. I know that Mush said she doesn't laugh much, but didn't elaborate.

As for Emi, she sure is smart. And I'm getting smarter because of it. She doesn't seem to show others what she's really like. Which is tough and feisty and really funny. I've come to realize that she's been through a lot of hardships. I have no doubt that most of these girls have. But I also think that she's had an exceptionally hard life. It also seems like everyone can talk freely to her. She's good at listening. She always seems afraid though, deep down inside. I'm not sure of what yet. I think it has something to do with being loved though. I know that it was her sister that loved her most and Emi misses her so much.

I was finally tired. I paused to catch a shooting star, something that I had never seen in all my life. I felt that something big was going to happen soon. Maybe not right away, but soon.


End file.
